Kosovo

Cultural Frontiers and National Struggle:
Kosovo









Laura E. Rivas












Modern Europe

Professor Syrrakos

16 May 2011


Cultural Frontiers and National Struggle: Kosovo


The territory of the Balkans has suffered a lot of turbulence along history. It has nurtured many civilizations, and great empires have debatedthe peninsula. As a consequence, its population is made out of a wide range of multiculturalism and different ethnic groups. Unfortunately, the philosophy of the ‘Melting Pot’ was not a successful turnout in this specific region; on the contrary, practices of segregations and chauvinistic (more than nationalistic) feelings have been developed among the different cultural groups. It is often whathappens in the frontiers of culture and religion that one ethnic group will seek to monopolize the other and they will dispute over power. In such cases, and with demography as a very important element, the predicament of minorities living among majorities is created. This was the conflict that emerged in former Yugoslavia between a Kosovo Albanian majority and a Kosovo Serbian minority andwhich eventually resulted, by the right of self-determination, with the latest addition of autonomous land to the European chart.
Background History
How whomever, Albanians or Serbs first got to Kosovo, is a story with many versions that are yet to find a compromise. There are no sources yet that would provide us with a harmonious conclusion in this matter. However, one fact it is known to betrue, and based on it Serbs have built a great deal of national pride. It dates back to the Middle Ages when the plains of Kosovo watched the development of the Nemanjić Dynasty. This medieval kingdom not only turned into a splendorous civilization, but its biggest contribution lays on the foundation of the Serbian Orthodox Church. The religious ties that this church created among the Serbs was sostrong, that it would keep them together as a people even after the fall of their State.
With time, The Nemanjić Dynasty gained a lot of power and wealth. But the Ottoman Empire was simultaneously growing expanding. They encountered in battle many times but the most important battle was fought in Kosovo, where Lazar led the Serbian army against the Sultan Murad. However, “Serbia slipped inand out of the Ottoman Control but by 1459 was under full Ottoman rule”. Despite of the evident failure, these battles are remembered with pride in the hearts of Serbs, to whom resistance represents martyrdom, heroism and honor.
“The glory of the Kosovo heroes shone like a radiant star in the dark night of almost five hundred years… There was never a war for freedom- and when was there nowar?- in which the spirit of Kosovo heroes did not participate. The new history of Serbia begins with Kosovo- a history of valiant efforts, long suffering, endless wars, and unquenchable glory […] We bless Kosovo because the memory of the Kosovo heroes upheld us, encouraged us taught us and guided us”

Countless major events that helped shape the Serb national identity took place in Kosovo.Nevertheless, this land would prove to be prolific for Albanians as well, especially in the midst of the Ottoman conquest and with the beginning of a gradual demographic shift in their favor. A factor that contributed to this was Albanian’s willingness to convert to Islam, but is also important to acknowledge that Albanians are exceedingly secular, as opposed to the Serbs, who already belonged to aspecific religious entity. Another point to keep in mind when regarding conversions is that Albanian population consisted mostly of peasants and by converting to Islam they had a bigger chance to grow within the Empire. “In the centuries that followed, the Serbian and Orthodox population gradually shifted northward, to Hungary, to what is today Vojvodina, and to Bosnia, Dalmatia and Croatia”....